Home Invasion Defense in Chicago and Across Illinois

Home invasion is charged in very different situations: a robbery inside an apartment, a break-in that found someone home, and, often, a dispute at an address the person knew well (a former partner’s home, a relative’s, a place they once lived). The charge that follows is a Class X felony, with a detention hearing within days.

The statute requires more than entering someone else’s home. The State must prove that the person entered without authority, knew or had reason to know someone was present, and then did one of the things the statute lists, such as using or threatening force while armed, intentionally injuring someone, or committing a sexual assault. Each of those elements is a question for the defense.

Bedi & Singer defends people charged with home invasion at the Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th and California, in Cook County’s suburban courthouses, in the collar counties, and in courts across Illinois.

A person commits home invasion by knowingly entering the dwelling of another without authority, knowing or having reason to know that someone is present (or entering and remaining after learning that someone is), and then doing one of the things the statute lists: using or threatening force while armed with a dangerous weapon, intentionally injuring someone inside, using or threatening force while armed with a firearm, using or threatening force and personally firing a firearm, personally firing a firearm that causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death to someone inside, or committing a sexual assault or sexual abuse offense against someone inside (720 ILCS 5/19-6).

Home invasion is a Class X felony: 6 to 30 years (up to 60 with an extended term), with no probation. Where the person was armed with a firearm, 15 years are added; where they personally fired it, 20; where that shot caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death, 25 years to life. With day-for-day credit, about half of the sentence is served, unless the court finds that the offense caused great bodily harm, in which case at least 85 percent must be served.

The statute has its own defense: a person who entered and remained only until they knew or had reason to know someone was present, and then left at once or surrendered without causing or trying to cause serious bodily injury, has not committed home invasion. It also reaches a home the person has a tenancy interest in but has been barred from by an order of protection, a divorce decree, or another court order.

Residential burglary is entering or remaining in a dwelling without authority with the intent to commit a felony or theft inside. It does not require that anyone be home, and it is a Class 1 felony, 4 to 15 years, with no probation, except that a person with a substance use disorder tied to the offense and no prior felony conviction can ask for treatment probation (720 ILCS 5/19-3). Criminal trespass to a residence is entering or remaining without authority, with nothing more: a misdemeanor, or a Class 4 felony where the person knew or had reason to know someone was present. What separates a Class X home invasion from these charges is a person inside and what the State can prove happened after the entry.

Home invasion is a forcible felony on which the State can petition to deny pretrial release. The hearing is held at the first appearance, or within 48 hours of it if a continuance is granted, and the State must prove its grounds by clear and convincing evidence. Discovery follows: the 911 call, the statements of everyone in the home, body-camera video from the arrival, medical records, the messages between the people involved, and every statement the client made. The arrest and the statements are reviewed for a motion to suppress.

The defense tests each element the State must prove:

• Authority to enter: a key, an invitation, a lease, a history of coming and going, or a court order that changed it
• Knowledge that someone was home, and what the person did when they learned it
• The weapon: whether there was one, whether it was a firearm, and who had it
• The force or the injury, measured against the accounts of the people inside and the physical evidence

Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer work on Bedi & Singer’s home invasion cases together. Bedi & Singer keeps the client and the people close to them informed about what is happening and why, from the detention hearing on, and makes every decision, including whether to try the case to a judge or a jury, with the client.

A home invasion charge often arrives in the middle of a family dispute, with an order of protection and sometimes a custody case running alongside it. Bedi & Singer defends the criminal case with those proceedings in view.